>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put it global expertise to work for a wide range of companies.

what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> massive explosions tear through a naval base in cyprus. 12 people are dead, more are injured. hopes of finding further survivors from the sunken boat are fading. around 200 people were on board. aid workers in east africa urge kenyan leaders to open a camp that's been kept empty for two years. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. also in this program -- fresh questions arise about who knew what at news international of the phone hacking. and the british royals head home after a dazzling tour of north america. >> a series of huge he can plotion that ripped through a naval base in cyprus, killing

at least 12 people and injuring many others. the blast happened at the munitions store in the greek c ypriot naval base. emily buchanan reports. >> nothing could have prepared people for this. a hot summer morning was shatter the aa munitions store packed with gunpowder explode. the blast ripped through the naval base, killing and maiming those unlucky enough to be in its path. the destructive force was so powerful, homes and cars nearby were seriously damaged. >> the sound, well, it just plow my socks off, and the doors crashed together, the glass blew in, windows, door frames, things left their shelves. a total mess inside. it's like a bomb hit the place. >> officials are speculating this was a tragic accident. the gate has been called out to fight a wildfire, and as they struggle with the blaze, there were massive explosions on the

naval base. authorities had confiscated the arms over two years ago from an iranian ship bound for syria. it was deemed to be breaking international law. the blast also destroyed much of the island's main power station, which is next to the naval base. it caused power cuts across the south, and residents have been urged to scale back their demand. emily buchanan, bbc news. >> the blast has caused damage to the nearby village. a greek newspaper has just arrived there. thanks very much for joining us. just how bad is the damage as far as you can see? >> good morning from cyprus, if we can call it a good morning. the village itself has suffered lots of the damage. most of the houses here are now doorless. windows have been shattered from the blast. a few houses have suffered from the blast and have cracks all

over them. nothing too serious, though, although some civilians left their homes, fearing they might collapse, but nothing. >> people were trying to move gas away because they rely on that for their power supply, is that right? >> yeah, no electricity or power so far in the area. just trying cut down everything, air conditioning, all the refrigerators, anything that has to do with electrical supply, trying to save some energy. >> is it at all clear how this series of blasts happened? >> sorry, didn't hear you. >> do you have any information as to how this blast happened? >> they were saying something about a fire starting in the early morning, but no official announcement so far. and they're trying to keep it, let's say, low till they're sure of what they're saying to the media, the public

generally. because people are rushing in, trying to figure out what happened to their loved ones, and there is a small problems with communication at the same time. there was an announcement for blood, there is a need for blood as we speak. >> ok, thanks very much indeed for talking with us from a village near where that blast happened on the naval base. thank you. officials in russia say they're not finding any more survivors after a boat sunk in the volga river. six bodies have been found. dozens of divers have been searching the murky waters of the river. >> on the banks of the river volga, emergency teams worked through the night. but this is no longer a rescue operation. it's about comforting relatives of the missing.

this man says his only daughter, his granddaughter and son-in-law, were on the sunken pleasure boat. show me any bodies you have, he says, perhaps my daughter is among them. the bulgaria was 55 years old and still in service, packed with passengers. it had been on a weekend cruise down the volga when it got into distress. eyewitnesses say that, in heavy storms, it keeled over and sank in minutes. when rescuers reached the scene, the scale of the disaster became clear. more than 100 people are still missing. we couldn't find anyone along the shore, he says, nothing but silence and waves rolling in. there's nobody there. but some people were rescued by a passing boat. dazed and exhausted, they were taken to kazan, where the bulgaria had sailed from.

and waiting on the shore to see if their loved ones were among the survivors were friends and families of those who'd been on the cruise. two ships didn't stop, even though we waved our hands, this man says. only this boat stopped to pick us up. my three sisters had gone on the cruise, she says. one has telephoned to say she's alive, but i don't know about the others. as teams of divers continue to recover bodies from the bottom of the volga, hope of finding anyone else alive has all but faded. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. >> more than 600 victims of the srebrenica massacre in bosnia are to be reburied today. the remains recovered from mass graves will be taken to the bath cemetery, joining over 4,000 victims already laid to rest there. around 8,000 muslims were killed by boss unanimous serb

forces after they captured the town in 1995. at least 67 people were killed in a train crash in northern india on sunday. police said more than 200 other passengers were injured when the train derailed. rescue he is worked through the night to reach people trapped in the wreckage. the united states' top military officer has expressed concerns thatter iter to the disputes in the south china sea could lead to an unexpected outbreak of violence in the region. admiral mike mullen is on a visit to china, which is embroiled in rowes with the philippines and vietnam about territory. the united states has suspended $800 million of military aid to pakistan. tensions were already high before the al qaeda leader osama bin laden was killed in a u.s. raid in an army raid. more recently, 100 military trainers have been expelled, and they threatened to shut down a c.i.a. base. our correspondent, aleem maqbool, is in islamabad, and

earlier, i asked him how humiliating this is for pakistan given they need u.s. aid to help pay for security. >> we keep hearing leaks about various things that the american officials are accusing pakistan of doing. certainly the pakistanis feel very much under pressure. they do need the dollars, but not to the extent that we might think, because they do get a large proportion -- the pakistani army gets a large proportion of the domestic budget here, but it is the humiliation more than anything that will help the pakistani army. and yes, the two sides do need each other. nobody's talking about breaking up completely, but it's whether this will have the desired effect that washington wants or not, and that is something we simply can't tell right now. >> aleem maqbool. in syria, supporters of the government and some of its critics are holding a second day of talks in damascus. the government says the national dialogue will help chart a course to multiparty democracy, but many opposition leaders remain skeptical and have boycotted the meeting. our correspondent is following

events from beirut. >> there will be people from the government side, certainly, from the ruling baath party. but the question is, who is standing up from the opposition? they had the first day yesterday, and it's certainly the case that some senior figures from the opposition in syria and abroad, in paris, london, and so on, were asked and said no, they couldn't do it at the time when protesters are being shot in the street simply for going out and demonstrating. having said that, there were people there yesterday who did criticize the government. they called for an end to the violence, and made verse other demands, for instance, all these arrests be stopped and people be released. there are a few critical voices in there. >> bennett jones. aaron is here. italy, how worrying is the news from there this morning? >> extremely worrying. if we thought we should all be worrying about greece and this whole second bailout, etc., greece defaulting, it compares nothing to the worries at the moment over italy. we are talking about the eurozone's third largest economy and also it has --

italy has the highest sovereign debt, the highest government debt relative to its economy outside of greece. huge worries, so much so that eurozone top officials held emergency meetings on the weekend. that meeting continued this morning. this is all ahead of the official eurozone finance ministers meeting to discuss t. here's the problem. on friday, we saw a huge selloff. investors dumped italian assets like they were stones on friday. unicredit, the largest bank, fell 8%. the stock market fell 3.5%. the interest rate on what italy has to pay for its debt went up and hit 5.3%. it's just a pinch away from the 5.5%, which is the area where you start seeing a lot of pressure on a country's finances. it is a big worry indeed. of course, it is connected -- it is the mother of all contagions, it's connected to greece because the whole package to try to rescue greece has been delayed and delayed, and that is poisoning investors' confidence. but i'll have a lot more on the

world business report in about 20 minutes' time. >> thanks very much. the bbc has learned that britain's culture secretary is writing to regulators for further advice on the implications of newscorp's planned bid for the broadcaster, bskyb. it comes in the wake of the "news of the world" phone hacking scandal o. sunday, rupert murdoch flew to london to guide the company through the crisis. >> it was all smiles as rebekah brooks and rupert murdoch left a restaurant last night. by allowing media access like this, news corporation is keen to convey a message that it's all business as usual. rebekah brooks stopped to help a photographer who fell over in the melee. it's understood she could soon be interviewed by police as a witness, though she says she knew nothing about phone hacking when she was editor of "news of the world." other news international exec tizz are said to be cooperating fully with the police inquiry. earlier, rupert murdoch gave a very public show of settlement to rebekah brooks.

she's said to have offered her resignation twice, only to be turned down. asked what her priority was now, he said this one, referring to her. the murdoches, father and son, refused to answer any detailed questions when they faced the media. it's been a bruising few days for the murdoch empire, but even tougher days lie ahead. more revelations and more arrests are expected. the house of commons could vote to delay the bskyb takeover until the criminal investigation into hacking has been completed. that multibillion pound deal, the biggest prize of all, looks increasingly in jeopardy. andy moore, bbc news. >> more on that later in the bulletin. >> that's a very good question, i have no idea. i mean, we have had some crashes before, but there seems to be quite a few in this tour de france, certainly not as anything as spectacular on this one. this is yesterday. this spanish race surtain out

by a tv car, who swerved into him. we'll show thaw one again. in comes the car. he takes out the dutch rider, who goes over the fence and into some barbed wire. remarkably, they both got up. >> incredible. i mean, unbelievably painful, and they must be furious. >> they must be very angry, but they are really tough guys. that was quite a crash. rest day today. those guys are going to need it. we should also talk about golf. >> golf, ok. the british. >> yeah, starting later this week. last champion of a winner is rory mcilroy of northern ireland, but this is luke donald, the world number one. you can be world number one, but you need to win a major, so a lot of eyes on this guy, who says he's confident about winning a major, and royal st. george's is starting later this week, the oldest major championship and a definitive one. >> no pressure from the british press, i'm sure. thanks very much indeed. you're watching "bbc world news."

still to come -- we report from misratah. the city may be surrounded, but residents are defiant. the last american space shuttle in operation, atlantis, has docked on the international space station on its final mission. it delivered enough food to last the astronauts for a year. it will bring rubbish from the space station back to earth. >> this is above the earth. a moment of history as atlantis, the last american space shuttle, comes in to dock at the international space station for the last time. slowly performing a back flip so that astronauts on the station can check for any damage to the heat tiles on the bottom of the shuttle. and at mission control in houston, they keep a close watch as the shuttle makes its final approach. >> atlantis arriving. welcome to the international space station for the last time. >> it's great to be here, station. we'll see you shortly.

>> the expedition crew getting ready to welcome the 135 crew -- >> inside the space station, the crew waits to welcome the new visitors. and first through the hatch from the shuttle is the commander, chris ferguson. >> closely followed by the other astronauts from atlantis. >> two, one, zero, and liftoff. >> the shuttle blasted off on friday, climbing into the sky for the last time. carrying with it supplies for the space shuttle with enough food to last a year. the astronauts would stay here until next week before their final journey home and the end of a program that lasted 30 years as the shuttle passes into history. >> crisis talks between president obama and political leaders in congress have failed to break the deadlock over how to avoid a default by the

united states on its financial obligations. america's treasury secretary, tim geithner, has warned of catastrophic damage to the global economy if no one can get a deal soon. this is "bbc world news." the headlines now for you -- and massive explosions tear through a naval base in cyprus. 12 people are dead, 25 injured, two seriously. hopes fade of finding survivors of a boat sinking in russia as rescuers begin day two of the search. the head of the u.n. refugee agency is meeting the kenyan president to urge him to open a new camp of people fleeing droughts and conflict in somalia. the kenyan government has so far refused to forge a new camp. it's close to a refugee camp, which has been overwhelmed by victims of the drought. let's go to the camp and our

correspondent is there live. just how difficult is it there? how much pressure is that camp under now? >> it's under a lot of pressure. but just to tell you, i have left the camp. i'm actually at the refugee center, which is going to be part of the discussions involving the u.n. high commissioner and the kenyan president today. we wanted to come here to give you a contrast showing the situation here and all the pictures we've been seeing over the last week or so. now, they have something about 350, 360,000 people in it. it was built for around 90,000 people. most people are in tents. around 130,000 people are turning up, having deserted or left drought-stricken areas across the horn of africa every single day. that place is teeming, this place is a refugee center. it's only about 10 miles or so

from the dock, but it's absolutely empty. i mean, look at these buildings. this one here behind me, it is very well constructed, corrugated roof, brick side walls, very substantial dwelling, but there are padlocks on all the doors, and there are buildings all the way behind me, all the way around me, enough accommodation, actually, to house around about 40,000 people. and if the government in nairobi had allowed the u.n. to finish this whole development, it could actually house 80,000 people. but that's the rub, because these are proper, well constructed dwellings. there's a feerp on the part of the administration in nairobi that refugees, if they do come over the border, could end up settling here permanently, and that is why the u.n. agency and the kenyan government are in talks to try and get this open, trying to get it finished so that some of the overflow from the camp can come here and alleviate the general

situation. >> clive for us, thanks very much. now, more on the "news of the world" hacking scandal that is affecting rupert murdoch's press and media empire. the editor of the "spectator" magazine here in london, also a political columnist for the "news of the world," he joins us now from the studio. your last column in the paper yesterday, i presume. did you have any talks at all at the time you were writing for the paper as to the why things were being run? >> well, sure, but it was a huge discomfort even writing that column. you write that what you did. everybody felt hugely uncomfortable and ashamed of what has been done in the name of the "news of the world". to lose a great newspaper like that is a really emotional thing for journalists. but we all knew that the more wounds were self-inflicted for

this newspaper. it's got nothing but itself to blame. >> do you feel now that rebekah brooks' position is untenable? why do you think rupert murdoch described her as this one being her priority? why is she so important? >> well, she is crucial. the trust between murdoch and rebekah is complete. and also, there's a slight difference between her and andy coulson. she is accused of presiding over the hacking of milly dowler's phone, but right now it's not clear whether that actually happened or not. with andy coulson, he resigned as editor of "news of the world" once the court ruled the hacking had taken place and sentenced those responsible. and so that hasn't happened with the milly dowler, but still a lot we don't know. that's the difference, why rebekah brooks is still in her job and andy coulson isn't. >> sorry to interrupt, but jeremy hunt, the secretary, is due to arrive to ofcom.

do you think rupert murdoch would pull out of the u.k. if he didn't get the deal? >> i don't think he would sell his british newspapers and go home. he loves newspapers, mr. murdoch. it's really in his blood. and it must have gutted him to close "news of the world," but he's still got a very successful business here. broadcasting is now his main focus. but i would be amapesed if he basically quit. >> ok. thanks very much indeed for coming in. after weeks of stalemate, libyan rebels in the town of misratah are fighting their way westward. the city is still surrounded, the only way in or out is by sea. but morale is still high there, as gabriel gatehouse reports. >> not so much a protest and a show of defiance. misratans and thousands take to the streets of a weekday evening. their message to colonel gaddafi and the world is this -- their city may still be surrounded, but its people will not give up the fight.

>> this is something we can't tell our children or grandchildren, you know, of the day freedom came to the people. now, people are happy, people are excited, even though there's lack of food or whatever. but people are happy because they have their freedom back. >> but that freedom has come at a high price. this is tripoli street in the center of misratah today. just a few months ago, it was the scene of vicious fighting, slowly, and suffering heavy losses, the rebels eventually drove colonel gaddafi's forces down this road and out of the city. the battle for tripoli's street is without doubt the most vivid event in living memory here and the locals have already created this shrine in its honor, the vast piles of order i nantz and shells that we used in the destruction of this road. while what happened here is already being etched into the history books, ataken almost a status of folklore, other battles are still raging just a

few kilometers from here. on the front line, young fighters turn to their religion for courage as they wait their turn to go into battle. the people of misratah truly believe god is on their side, as evidenced, many point to the rocket that fall daily on the outskirts of this city, and yet seem to do curiously little damage. the end of colonel gaddafi's rule here has turned every wall into a potential canvas. but there's more to this display of artist are you than the flowering of a long suppressed instinct. this woman took part in the battle on tripoli street. now he swapped his gun for a paint brush, and he says he hopes his murals will one day be seen as a small piece of history. but his words betray a nervousness that few here will admit to, that the regime could yet make a comeback.

in public, most dismiss the idea, but with their backs to the sea, the people of this city need to do more than fight. they need to believe that their victory is secure. f.b.i. re he will gatehouse, bbc news, misratah. >> britain's new duke and duchess of cambridge have finished their tour of north america. the royal couple tried their hand at a bit of painting and rounded off their trip by meeting some army veterans. >> the last day of a long tour, but still plenty of energy left to meet the crowd. >> i shook his hand. it's so exciting. >> the duke and duchess have been warmly welcomed in california. >> how is your first trip to the u.s. been? >> really enjoyed it, thank you very much. >> at an art school in downtown slum, skid row, the pressure was on. facing clearly runs in the family.

they don't play the national anthem in l.a., this is the sound of show business. the event was a jobs fair for returning war veterans. prince william stressed how much he supported the troops either side of the atlantic, with a dig at prince harry. >> i am delighted, therefore, that our foundation, and in that i include my low-flying apache, very average brother, as a partner in today's event. >> well, this is the last stop for the duke and duchess. they're going straight to the airport and heading home. their first trip together as a married couple, of course, two weeks of going across canada and a finish here in california. two weeks and many dresses later, catherine, duchess of cambridge, has been well and truly introduced as the newest member of the royal family. >> much more on that trip and all our news at the website,

bbc.com/news. more on our top story, a series of huge explosions ripped through a naval base in cyprus. bbc.com/news. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.